Bridgewater-Raynham's Excel program turns at-risk students into success stories

Struggling high school students from around the region have found a second home and a second chance at Bridgewater-Raynham’s alternative high school.“That student who doesn’t look like he’s doing the work at the day school comes to the night school and feels academically and personally su...

By Rebecca Hyman

The Taunton Daily Gazette, Taunton, MA

By Rebecca Hyman

Posted Jun. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 12, 2013 at 12:18 PM

By Rebecca Hyman

Posted Jun. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 12, 2013 at 12:18 PM

Raynham

» Social News

Struggling high school students from around the region have found a second home and a second chance at Bridgewater-Raynham’s alternative high school.

“That student who doesn’t look like he’s doing the work at the day school comes to the night school and feels academically and personally supported and is very successful,” said Bill Barber, a guidance counselor at B-R High School and the director of Excel, the district’s alternative high school program.

On May 31, fourteen Excel students received their diplomas before proud family members from B-R Superintendent Jacqueline Forbes in the high school’s lecture hall.

The program, which has been in existence since 1998, offers night classes and extra academic support to students who’ve experienced difficulty for one reason or another in the traditional high school setting. Over the years, Excel has awarded high school diplomas to more than 400 students.

Barber estimates 80 percent of them would have dropped out if it weren’t for Excel.

Students opt for the program for a variety of reasons, he said.

Some feel they don’t fit in socially in a traditional high school. Others have fallen behind academically and don’t want to go the five-year route.

“And in this day and age, with the economy the way it is, unfortunately, we have students who are working 30 or 40 hours a week to help their parents pay the bills. It’s pretty hard to worry about the importance of education during the day when you’re worried where you’re going to sleep at night.”

Some Excel students are academically gifted but struggled in other areas for one reason or another. One student who graduated last year scored higher than 700 on all of his SAT’s and is heading to college next year.

Barber said the thing he and the teachers enjoy the most is when an Excel graduate contacts them years later requesting a transcript be sent to a prospective college or employer and says, “Okay, now I get it.”

“The fact they have that diploma in their back pocket is a success,” Barber said.

The students come from around the region — including Bridgewater, Raynham, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Halifax, Middleboro and Fall River — because many high schools do not offer such a program, Barber said.

They must pass MCAS to receive their diplomas. If a student is unable to pass the challenging state test, he is instead awarded a certificate of attainment.

One student fell into that category this semester and Barber said he considers him a success story, not least because of his inspiring determination not to quit.

“That student has taken the MCAS numerous times, has fulfilled all of the other requirements of graduation and has said to me he will continue to try to pass the MCAS,” Barber said.

Page 2 of 2 - Another student who had graduated with a certificate of attainment came back last semester and said ‘I want my diploma. I need my diploma’ because he was joining the military. Excel teachers tutored him in math. He took the test again and passed it.

“So, two years after he left, he still wanted to get that diploma and was successful at it,” Barber said.

Superintendent Jacqueline Forbes thanked Berber for his leadership on the Excel program.

“I’m thrilled to be able to have the alternative high school in our regional district because it’s a second chance for so many and that’s what we’re all about,” Forbes said.

B-R School Committee Chairman Patricia Riley told Barber: “We know you put your heart and soul into this program and it shows.”